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Hikers have recounted encountering "extreme" situations after an unseasonable blizzard during one of China's most crowded holiday weekends trapped hundreds of people on Mount Everest, sparking a massive rescue effort.

Rescue Operations In Progress

Chinese authorities stated that approximately 350 people had descended safely but at least 200 were still trapped at the Everest Scenic Area, situated to the east of the mountain, on the Tibetan side of the border.

Crowds of tourists had journeyed to the region for "Golden Week," an eight-day festive break in China. However, Chinese authorities, who administer the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said heavy snowfall had affected the area on Friday and Saturday night, trapping hundreds of individuals at tent sites at an elevation of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet).

"This was the harshest weather I've experienced in all my trekking adventures, undoubtedly," Dong Shuchang said on social media, detailing a "intense snowstorm on the eastern slope" of Everest.

"I looked up in the late hours and saw that the accumulation had almost covered the top," shared a hiker on a social platform. "It was the initial instance I genuinely experienced the fear of being engulfed by snow."

Personal Accounts

A hiker from China said their party had been "too scared to sleep" on Saturday as accumulation quickly piled up around their tents, compelling them to remove it hourly. They decided to descend on Sunday as the conditions worsened.

"During the descent, we met our guide’s parent who had searched for him. That's when we learned the snow was intense in the valley too; villagers, unable to contact their children on the mountain, were deeply concerned."

The north and east side of Everest is easier to reach than locations on the Nepal side of the border and attracts high numbers of tourists for easier trekking, not requiring ascent of the peak.

Visual Evidence

Photos and video shared on the internet depicted shelters covered by snow and rows of trekkers walking through waist-high drifts to descend the mountain.

"It was very deep, and the path extremely slippery. Trekkers often slipped – some fell, some were jostled by yaks," noted a trekker, who clarified that all safely descended and were picked up by bus.

Latest Developments

By Sunday afternoon, about 350 individuals had arrived in Qudang, a village about 30 miles away from the Tibetan starting point of Everest, "safe and sound," official sources reported.

No fewer than 200 more remained trapped but had been reached, the updates indicated. Media outlets reported that scores of emergency workers had ascended the mountain to assist those trapped and remove accumulation from obstructing the exit route.

Officials provided minimal updates or updated information about the rescue effort on the following day. It was also not clear if the weather had impacted anyone on the northern side of Everest, within the same region. The area is tightly controlled by the authorities, and media entry is limited. The weather also appears to have have disrupted local communications, with attempts to contact shops failing. Several trekkers reported electricity was cut in Qudang when they reached the town.

Seasonal Context

Autumn is a busy period for the region, with usually calm and pleasant weather, but one trekker, one of 18 members of a trekking group that made it back to Qudang, commented that the weather this year was "unusual."

"The guide told us he had not experienced conditions like this in the fall. And it happened all too suddenly."

The regional travel department announced admissions and entry to the Everest Scenic Area were halted from Saturday.

Broader Effects

Adjacent nations were affected as well by extreme weather. Torrential downpours triggered mudslides and sudden flooding that have blocked roads, destroyed crossings, and claimed the lives of at least 47 people since the start of the weekend in the neighboring country.